Mercedes to let drivers authenticate in-vehicle payments for goods and services with their fingerprint

Mercedes dashboard with biometric fingerprint sensor for in-vehicle payments
BIOMETRIC: Drivers will be able to authorise in-car payments using a fingerprint sensor in the dashboard

Mercedes drivers in the UK and Germany will soon be able to authorise in-car payments for goods and services using a fingerprint sensor in their vehicle’s dashboard.

Daimler is to roll out biometric payments in its Mercedes vehicles “from spring 2022”, enabling owners to initiate and complete strong customer authentication (SCA) compliant transactions directly from their car’s MBUX head unit and infotainment centre using the Mercedes Pay payments platform.

“This means that entering passwords or relying on mobile devices for payment authentication may soon be a thing of the past as the vehicle itself becomes a biometrically enabled payments device,” Daimler says.

The system has been developed using Visa’s cloud-based token framework and delegated authentication service to support SCA compliance.

“In partnership with Visa, Daimler aims to offer native in-car payments that meet the requirements of two-factor authentication in a secure and user-friendly way,” Daimler’s Franz Reiner says.

“There is nothing more convenient than authorising a payment with your fingerprint.

“A luxury customer experience of course includes the aspect of safety, and we fulfil that through native in-car payment. We offer our customers security not only when driving, but also when paying.”

Daimler plans to introduce the system in “other European markets” and anticipates that it will be available “in other markets globally at a later stage”.

A short video shows how the system works.

Mercedes launched contactless in-vehicle fuel payments in Germany in March.

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